How to Create 3D Planets With Fusion

Last week saw the release of VCP’s free Orb plugin for After Effects that allowed you to create 3D Planets out of 3D spheres. Orb is a well thought out, powerful and a real gift to the After Effects community. If you want an example of what giving back to the motion graphics and VFX community (actually) looks like, then pattern yourself after Andrew Kramer and no one else.

While Ae users need a plugin to make a 3D ball, Black Magic Design Fusion doesn’t. Creating 3D planets and space scenes in Fusion isn’t as convenient as using Orb, but you can make your very own set of worlds using the native nodes within Fusion.

Motion Graphics Artist, 3D Generalist T.J. Grant shows how to create 3D planets easily in Fusion’s 3D environment. In the tutorial Grant explains how to make planets, and also offers a free template based on the techniques. Download the Fusion template for building 3D planets here. “The template is free to use on both commercial and personal projects! Feel free to make any modifications to it, don’t resell it. Instead, share it with the community to help us all grow as Fusion Artists,” Grant says.